Chapter 57 - 55: The Battle for Supremacy Among Heaven’s Chosen Begins, the Curtain Rises on an Era of Turmoil

Chapter 57: Chapter 55: The Battle for Supremacy Among Heaven’s Chosen Begins, the Curtain Rises on an Era of Turmoil

Above the vast, boundless earth, endless figures gazed up at the sky, their hearts trembling in profound shock. At the same time, the exact same scene unfolded across the Earth Realm of Celestial City. Countless Cultivators watched the sudden, startling transformation of the firmament, endless ripples of emotion flashing in their eyes.

At this moment, it seemed everyone knew exactly what had happened.

The Battle of Celestial Prides of the Celestial Martial Continent, held once every century, had begun.

As Jiang Hao looked up at the endless Celestial Universe, countless young individuals within the Earth Realm of Celestial City were also staring upwards.

"The Battle of Celestial Prides... Their era has arrived.

"The start of this battle means that countless ancient ruins will emerge one after another. Celestial Prides will slaughter each other to fight for opportunities. It will be bloody and cruel, yet it also marks the rise of a new era."

For the Celestial Martial Continent, every Battle of Celestial Prides was nothing short of an earth-shattering catastrophe.

While countless Cultivators muttered to themselves, the sky began to rumble and tremble. The Tai Chi Diagram, visible across the entire Celestial Martial Continent, slowly began to rotate. It shrouded this Wang Yang world without the slightest sign of dissipating.

Everyone knew that once the Battle of Celestial Prides began, the Tai Chi Diagram would not vanish until the contest ended and everything returned to normal.

Under the watchful eyes of countless Cultivators, the layer of Tai Chi Cloud rotated silently. From within that Tai Chi Cloud, however, countless marks descended. It was as if a heavy rain of marks was falling upon the entire Celestial Martial Continent. These marks scattered toward the furthest corners of the continent, plummeting in all different directions.

The sky above Celestial City was no exception. Countless marks fell toward numerous regions, flying toward various young figures as if locking onto specific targets.

"The Celestial Pride Mark! It’s the Celestial Pride Mark!"

"Good heavens, how are there so many Celestial Pride Marks?"

Countless older generation figures who had experienced the previous Battle of Celestial Prides turned pale with shock as they watched the densely packed Tai Chi marks cascading down. The marks appearing in the sky blotted out the sun, too numerous to count. Each mark corresponded to one Celestial Pride. For so many Celestial Pride Marks to descend simultaneously—this was the highest number in the recorded history of the Celestial Martial Continent.

"The world is about to descend into chaos. This is an omen of a turbulent era."

"Celestial Prides are emerging in droves, an era of unparalleled brilliance. The last time endless Celestial Prides were born was sixty thousand years ago. Are we going to repeat the tragedy of sixty thousand years ago?"

"No, the number of participants in this Battle of Celestial Prides is even more terrifying than it was sixty thousand years ago. Ancient texts have never recorded this many Celestial Prides."

With all the Celestial Prides emerging in a single generation, the level of terror was unimaginable. For a time, the entire Earth Realm of Celestial City stood completely dumbfounded.

Even Jiang Hao couldn’t help but feel tense as he looked at the sky full of marks. All the young individuals born into this era were overwhelmed with anxiety. This was their era, and the more Celestial Prides there were, the more perilous their future paths would be—perhaps even perilous enough to evoke absolute despair.

Countless young boys and girls stared at the sky-blotting Celestial Pride Marks, their faces ashen.

"How can there be so many Celestial Prides coexisting in this era? How?"

"Ahhh, I hate this! Why was I born in the wrong era? Why?!"

One young man after another howled at the sky, their eyes brimming with indignation. These boys and girls were clearly fully aware of their own standing, knowing it was impossible for them to join the ranks of the Celestial Prides. For Cultivators like them, competing with Celestial Prides was already incredibly difficult, yet they still had to try everything possible to rise through the cracks. The more Celestial Prides there were, the slimmer their chances of rising became.

Even those terrifyingly powerful young figures standing proudly between heaven and earth furrowed their brows as they witnessed this scene.

"I’m afraid this life will be fraught with endless perils."

"An era of catastrophe and turmoil... Why has it fallen upon our generation? Why?"

Some felt indignant, some were full of apprehension, but others burned with high fighting spirit. A few peerless prodigies, boasting talent rarely seen in ten thousand ages, curled their lips into smiles as they looked at the endless marks.

"Being born in a turbulent era is an even greater opportunity. I will eventually step upon your corpses and prove my Dao at the peak of mountains of corpses and Seas of Blood.

"Come! Come, all of you! I have waited for this day for a long time.

"Since ancient times, which supreme expert hasn’t reached the pinnacle by treading upon endless bones? Even if you Celestial Prides emerge in droves, you will be nothing more than buried bones beneath my sword."

Those who dared to reveal their battle intent were, without exception, individuals of terrifying talent and boundless confidence.

Compared to the younger generation, countless older generation figures were plagued with anxiety, their eyes filled with shock. Every generation’s Battle of Celestial Prides delivered a massive impact upon countless factions. The rise of a new generation of experts would inevitably disrupt the balance of the older generation’s powers. In regions where the contention was especially fierce, the hierarchy could even be completely reshuffled. The process of the battle was an opportunity belonging solely to this generation, but the resulting outcome would affect the entire Celestial Martial Continent, bringing about an unimaginable impact.

An era brimming with Celestial Prides was unprecedentedly terrifying, practically representing a massive upheaval for the entire Cultivation Realm. And this upheaval had already begun to show its signs on the eve of the Celestial Pride Marks fully descending.

At a certain moment, within the Earth Realm of Celestial City.

"KILL!"

BOOM—!!!

Without giving anyone time to react, countless minor skirmishes erupted throughout Celestial City. These were pre-emptive strikes carried out by rival factions, and their targets of slaughter were the young Cultivators of the opposing sides.

"Everyone, listen to my command! Before the marks can fuse with them, nip all the Celestial Prides of the Mu Family in the bud! We absolutely cannot give them the chance to rise!"

"Patriarch, how do we tell who is a Celestial Pride and who is an ordinary junior?"

"We don’t have time to worry about that! Kill as many as you can! As long as they belong to the younger generation, slaughter them all!"

"Elders, protect our clan’s Celestial Prides at all costs until the marks fuse with them!"

RUMBLE—!!!

Suddenly, massive battles erupted—not just in other places, but across the entirety of Celestial City. One terrifying defensive grand array after another surged into the sky as various factions exhausted all their means, trying everything they could to protect their younger Cultivators. These young boys and girls were the future hope of their respective factions, the foundation a cultivation clan would rely on after the Battle of Celestial Prides ended, and concurrently, the greatest threats in the eyes of their enemies.

"It’s chaos. Everything has descended into chaos!"

"Madness. This is absolute madness."

Countless Loose Cultivators who didn’t belong to any faction watched the instantly chaotic Cultivation Realm, their complexions turning exceptionally ugly. If previously there had been a balance of power keeping the various factions in check—to the point where even completely irreconcilable enemies wouldn’t easily start a war—then the moment the Battle of Celestial Prides began, all hesitation and checks and balances vanished without a trace. In just an instant, a massive number of young boys and girls were purged by the older generation of rival factions, resulting in countless casualties.

As if sensing that the curtain of turmoil had been drawn, in a split second, the countless slowly falling Celestial Pride Marks inexplicably accelerated. They tore through the void toward the chosen Celestial Prides, instantly sinking into the space between their eyebrows.

At the ancestral land of a certain ancient cultivation clan in Celestial City.

An old man with a terrifying aura watched as the son of his mortal enemy, whom he was about to execute, fused with a mark. The terrifying Sword Intent he had slashed down instantly halted.

The young man immediately burst into raucous laughter.

"Hahaha! Hahahaha—!

"You old fool, it’s too late! Once the Battle of Celestial Prides begins, older generation Cultivators cannot attack us! I have already fused with the mark. You can’t kill me anymore! Hahaha, hahaha—!"

The young man spoke with extreme arrogance, his eyes brimming with killing intent. He glared fiercely at the old man holding the ancient sword and declared with infinite hatred, "Mr. Gao, you old bastard, remember this well! Since I didn’t die today, I will become your clan’s natural enemy in the future. I will personally exterminate your entire clan!"

Staring at the mark between the young man’s eyebrows, the old man’s pupils twitched endlessly as if he were engaged in a final internal struggle. Once the Battle of Celestial Prides began, older generation figures indeed could no longer attack them. It seemed a terrifying force was manipulating everything from the shadows. And the so-called restriction was exactly the Celestial Pride Mark between the young man’s brows.

Yet the next moment, the old man seemed to have made a certain decision. He first looked up at the Tai Chi Cloud shrouding the world, and then fiercely swung his sword.

"NO—!!!" the young man cried out in alarm, his voice filled with unwillingness and sheer terror as he watched that world-destroying sword strike approach.

The heaven-shaking sword slash instantly reduced him into a mist of blood, leaving him utterly dead. And at the exact moment of the young man’s death, the mark between his eyebrows suddenly surged with radiant light and instantly shot into the space between the old man’s brows.

The very next moment.

BOOM—!!!

A terrifying bolt of lightning, visible to the naked eye across all of Celestial City, descended from the heavens. It crashed down from within the Tai Chi Cloud, instantly striking the old man and reducing him to ashes, leaving not even a bone behind.

"Did an older generation figure forcibly execute a Celestial Pride who had already fused with the mark?"

Countless experts in Celestial City gasped heavily as they watched that bolt of lightning pierce through heaven and earth.

Compared to the regions that had instantly fallen into chaos, the area around the Pill Storage Tower where Jiang Hao and the others were located was much more peaceful. However, when a streak of the Tai Chi mark slowly drifted toward them, everyone instantly caught onto its presence. They only snapped back to their senses when they saw the mark rapidly tear through the void and sink into the brow of the black-robed figure.

"A Celestial Pride Mark? He received a Celestial Pride Mark?"

For a moment, the countless onlookers stood as if struck by lightning as they watched Jiang Hao receive the Celestial Pride Mark. Even Nalan Feiyan was frozen in place.

"A Celestial Pride Mark? He is the Qin Family’s Celestial Pride?"

As soon as those words were spoken, a dead silence blanketed the entire Pill Storage Tower and its surroundings. That young man clad in black robes had not only stepped into the realm of a Tier Two Eighth Grade Pill Master at such a young age, but he was also a peerless genius who had entered the ranks of the Battle of Celestial Prides.

"How is this possible? How could this be? My Fan’Er, he...?"

Looking at Jiang Hao who had obtained the Celestial Pride Mark, Nalan Feiyan went completely numb. Only at this moment did she finally understand why Qin Shiming was so biased toward this illegitimate son. It wasn’t just out of guilt; perhaps there were other terrifying factors at play.

While the crowd remained astounded, Jiang Hao was the first to react. By the time everyone else awoke from their recent shock and the impact of the Battle of Celestial Prides beginning, that figure had already vanished from their sight.

However, at this time, Celestial City had descended into total chaos—a chaos so severe it made one’s scalp tingle.

After quietly leaving the Pill Storage Tower, Jiang Hao didn’t dare to linger and hurried rapidly toward Qin City. Right as he was swiftly traversing the streets of Celestial City, a faint voice suddenly echoed from behind him.

"A Celestial Pride Mark?"

Immediately after, Jiang Hao sensed a terrifying killing intent sweeping toward him.